Wolfgang Mozart's
The Impresario
Now Available Online
Mozart’s short one act opera, The Impresario, will be adapted as a lighthearted sequel to Raylynmor's previous production of Bastien and Bastienne.
Bastien, Bastienne, and Colas have “gone viral” with their social media presence ever since the movie came out about them last year. They all decide to go into showbusiness and find out what a mistake that is. Along the way, we meet a soprano/diva rival and see Bastien and Bastienne get into a whole new world of trouble. ​
AMANDA NELSON (Bastienne)
https://www.sopranoamandanelson.com/recordings.html
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Hailed for her balance of technique, musicality, and fierce stage presence, coloratura soprano, Amanda Nelson, has recently relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, where she continues to perform and refine her craft. Ms. Nelson received her Master's in Vocal Performance at Manhattan School of Music '17 and Bachelor Degrees in Psychology and Classical Vocal Performance at EWHA Women's University in Seoul, South Korea '15.
Performances with the Manhattan School of Music Opera Theatre include Ravel's L'enfant et les Sortilèges, Mozart's La clemenza di Tito, Strauss's Der Ziegeunerbaron, and opera scenes as Amy from Little Women. She was also a soloist and ensemble performer in Manhattan School of Music's Contemporary Opera Ensemble.
Amanda's most recent performances include Soprano/Brunhilde in Opera Huntsville’s Gilbert & Sullivan in the Rocket City, a show comprised of pieces and scenes from the compositions of Gilbert and Sullivan, Bastienne from Bastien und Bastienne with Raylynmor Opera, and Belinda from Dido and Aeneas with the Miami Music Festival.
This Season, Amanda is excited to be performing Madame Herz from Der Schauspieldirektor with Raylynmor Opera, and covering Adina from L’elisir d’amore with Opera Huntsville. Ms. Nelson will also be performing as the soprano soloist with the Spring Hill Orchestra’s production of Handel’s Messiah.
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EDWARD GRAVES (Bastien)
http://www.edwardegraves.com/media.html
Tenor Edward Graves, a 2019-20 Studio Artist at Michigan Opera Theatre, covered Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni and sang Rinuccio in a double bill of Puccini's Gianni Schicchi and Ching's Buoso's Ghost. He also stood by for the role of Luis Rodrigo Griffith in Champion. Highlights of the 2018-19 season included his Seattle Opera debut as Robbins in Porgy and Bess and a return to the Glimmerglass Festival for the world premiere of Blue. In 2017-18, Edward was a Baumgartner Studio Artist at Florentine Opera where he performed the roles of St. Brioche in The Merry Widow, Shepherd/ Sailor in Venus and Adonis/Dido and Aeneas, and 2nd Priest/1st Armored Man in The Magic Flute. Edward was the tenor soloist in Florentine Opera's Viva Opera! Opera's greatest hits concert and premiered the role of Buzz/Child in the children's opera A Busy Bee. Edward received an Encouragement Award from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions Wisconsin District in 2017. That same year he was a Young Artist at The Glimmerglass Festival where he sang the role of Peter and covered the role of Robbins in Porgy and Bess, also performing the role of Fred in Oklahoma! He received his Performer Diploma and Master of Music in Voice Performance from Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music where he studied with Patricia Havranek. He earned his Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance from Towson University as a student of Aaron Sheehan. While at Towson, he performed the roles of Calandrino in Mozart’s The Goose of Cairo, Cinderella’s Father in Into the Woods, Dudley in John Davies’ children’s opera Little Red’s Most Unusual Day, and Gabriel von Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus. In 2011 he participated in the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival, performing scenes from The Merry Widow, Showboat, and Regina. Toward the end of his graduate studies, Edward transitioned from baritone to tenor. Previous Indiana University Opera Theater appearances include Brühlmann in Massenet's Werther, ensemble in Verdi's La Traviata, The Doctor/ensemble in Menotti's The Last Savage, ensemble in The Magic Flute, Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus, Prince Yamadori in Madama Butterfly, Grimoaldo in Rodelinda, and Constable Locke/ ensemble in The Music Man. In 2020 Mr. Graves debuted with the Baltimore Concert Opera. His Lincoln Center debut with Mostly Mozart in Blue, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Madison Symphony Orchestra, John DeMain conducting, were canceled due to Covid-19.​
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ASHRAF SEWAILAM (Colas)
https://www.uiatalent.com/artists/ashraf-sewailam/
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The New York Times hailed Ashraf Sewailam’s début at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall as a “stand out performance” and Opera News described his voice as “purring and velvety with an easily produced Ramfis-like top range with a majestic tone,” and his stage presence as “strong, mysterious and with mesmerizing intensity.”
Engagements in 2020 were to include both Carmen and Les Contes d’Hoffmann at the Metropolitan Opera as well as Don Magnifico in La Cenerentola with Minnesota Opera, and Ramfis in Aida with Virginia Opera. This summer he joined Opera Steamboat as Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia and Dr. P in The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat. This coming season he will make his mainstage Metropolitan Opera debut in The Magic Flute as well as join their production of Ariadne auf Naxos. In addition, he will return to Seattle Opera as Colline in La bohéme, join Tulsa Opera for their production of Salome, and made take on the title role of Maometto II for Washington Concert Opera.
LAURA MCHUGH (Mademoiselle Silberklang)
Laura McHugh, an exceptionally versatile soprano “ready for heavenly ascent” ( Boston Musical Intelligencer) lauded for her “superb, floating” sound (Melrose Free Press) and penchant for “hilarious interpretation” (Voce di Meche), recently won 1st Place in the Classical Singer National Competition, 1st Place in the Vermont Vocal Competition, and 2nd Place in Classical Idol (VOX New England). This season, she makes two Mozart role debuts as the Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte with Music On Site, Inc., and Mademoiselle Silberklang in Der Schauspieldirektor with Raylynmor Opera. Laura makes her Tulsa Opera debut in Spring 2022 as Harriet Mosher in Emmeline. Recent credits include Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte), Mimì and Musetta (La bohème), Gerhilde (Die Walküre), Countess (Le Nozze di Figaro), Giulietta (Les Contes d’Hoffmann), Vitellia (La clemenza di Tito), and the title roles in Rusalka, Suor Angelica, and Gräfin Mariza. Laura appeared in Winterreise: In a New Light- a staged reinterpretation of Schubert’s Die Winterreise- which was awarded Vocal Recital of the Year (2016) by Boston’s ARTery, and has been an active recitalist since. She is a sought-after performer of New Music and English-language works, and her credits include several World Premieres.